Baseball-Game Three first pitch still the buzz at World Series

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Nearly 24 hours after the throw, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard's high and tight fastball to Kansas City's Alcides Escobar on the first pitch of Game Three was still a hot topic at the World Series.

Syndergaard, a 23-year-old New York rookie, sent the Royals shortstop diving to the dirt to escape the 98-mph pitch and said later he was determined to unsettle Escobar, who has punished fastballs during the postseason.

"I didn't expect (Syndergaard) to throw a strike, but I didn't expect him to throw it under his chin, either," Royals manager Ned Yost told reporters before Saturday's Game Four at Citi Field.

"But we've got a few tricks up our sleeves, too."

Knockdown pitches have been part of professional baseball for at least 100 years, but in recent generations the unwritten convention is to throw the so-called "purpose pitch" lower so as not to risk a catastrophic hit-by-pitch to the head.

Syndergaard's opening delivery was not so far inside that it threatened to hit Escobar, who eventually struck out, but it did whizz by head high.

"It's just a dangerous spot to throw a ball, especially when you throw that hard," Yost said, whose players were angered by the pitch.

"We talk about just moving (the batter's) feet, anything from like (chest) down, to back guys off the plate. You've seen us at times with (Mets second baseman) Daniel Murphy pitch in on him, but it's never been up and in."

Even Mets manager Terry Collins, whose team won the game 9-3 to draw within 2-1 in the best-of-seven, tended to agree.

"Pitching inside is a lost art," Collins said. "Very few guys do it effectively.

"It's always a little scary when it's up near the head area."

Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland said he understood Syndergaard's motivation for moving Escobar off the plate.

"I had no problem with it. I was surprised no one had done that to him sooner," Eiland told Reuters before Saturday's game.

"Now for me personally, it was a little too close to the head but as far as the theory behind it, I had no problem with it. You've got to make hitters uncomfortable. That's the way you pitch."

Added Eiland: "If you want to stick it in a guy's ribs or his hip, I got no problem with that. But don't come up around his head, now you're messing with his life."

Hall of Famer John Smoltz, a veteran of five World Series with the Atlanta Braves, also took exception to the height of Syndergaard's pitch and said the young Mets pitcher should not have been so outspoken about his intentions.

"You just let it go," Smoltz, now working as a television commentator, told Reuters. "Talking about it afterwards has no value.